This document provides guidelines for designing user
agents that lower barriers to Web accessibility for people with
disabilities (visual, hearing, physical, and cognitive). User agents include
HTML browsers and other types of software that retrieve and render Web content. A user agent that conforms to these guidelines will
promote accessibility through its own user interface and through other internal
facilities, including its ability to communicate with other technologies
(especially assistive
technologies). Furthermore, all users, not just users with
disabilities, are expected to find conforming user agents to be more
usable.

In addition to helping developers of HTML browsers, media players, etc.,
this document will also benefit developers of assistive technologies because it
explains what types of information and control an assistive technology may
expect from a conforming user agent. Technologies not addressed directly by
this document (e.g., technologies for braille rendering) will be essential to
ensuring Web access for some users with disabilities.

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its
publication. Other documents may supersede this document. The latest status of
this document series is maintained at the W3C.

This document incorporates resolutions of the User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines Working Group to issues raised during the third last call of this
document, through the 21 June 2001 teleconference. The Working Group is still
resolving last call issues as of the publication of this document.

Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C
Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted
by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite W3C Working Drafts
as other than "work in progress."

An appendix to this document [UAAG10-SUMMARY] summarizes
the document's principal goals and structure.

Another appendix to this document [UAAG10-CHECKLIST] lists
all checkpoints for convenient reference (e.g., as a tool for developers to
evaluate software for conformance).

Note: With a user agent that implements HTML 4
[HTML4] access keys, readers may navigate directly to the table of
contents via the "c" character. Users may have to use additional keyboard
strokes depending on their operating environment.

A separate document, entitled "Techniques for User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0" [UAAG10-TECHS], provides
suggestions and examples of how each checkpoint might be satisfied. It also
includes references to other accessibility resources (such as platform-specific
software accessibility guidelines) that provide additional information on how a
user agent may satisfy each checkpoint. The techniques provided in "Techniques
for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" are
informative examples only, and other strategies may be used or
required to satisfy the checkpoints. The Techniques document is expected to be
updated more frequently than the current guidelines.

The Web Accessibility Initiative provides other resources and educational materials
to promote Web accessibility. Resources include information about accessibility
policies, links to translations of WAI materials into languages other than
English, information about specialized user agents and other tools,
accessibility training resources, and more.